Navy board reviewing submission for Medal of Honor

A video said to be new evidence bolstering the posthumous Medal of Honor nomination for Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta was submitted Thursday to the secretary of the Navy.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and his staff said they obtained the footage made by a second Marine Corps cameraman on the scene Nov. 15, 2004, when the 25-year-old San Diegan was killed. They believe it had languished in a Defense Department archive until the cameraman and identification numbers for the film were located.

Eyewitnesses told investigators Peralta scooped a grenade under his abdomen that day to save his fellow Marines. But an expert panel later convened by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates concluded that Peralta was too injured from a gunshot wound to the head to have acted consciously.

Recommendations from a previous Navy secretary and the Marine Corps for the highest combat decoration were overruled. In 2008, Peralta was issued the Navy Cross, the second highest award.

"In the current video under consideration, Marines in a back room of the house say, Peralta is dead, Peralta is hit; then a senior Marine says, we don’t know that, 'shut up,' ” recounted Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Hunter who viewed the footage. (The video is extremely graphic and was not released to the media.)

"A wounded Marine in the room looks bewildered. While another Marine holds his hand, he says: Did you see that grenade come through the window? It landed right on top of Peralta, the Marine said," according to Kasper, paraphrasing.

The camera later records Peralta’s lifeless body as it is pulled from another room where he was wounded.

“This video, along with the other evidence, reaffirms the Marine Corps’ initial investigation and nomination of Sgt. Peralta for the Medal of Honor,” Hunter, a Marine combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in a statement.

“Taking into account witness testimony, new photo and video evidence, and additional medical findings, there is no doubt that Sgt. Peralta’s actions are in the spirit and tradition of the Medal of Honor.”

The Navy Department is aware of about five videos or edited clips filmed the day Peralta died, said Capt. Pamela Kunze, a spokeswoman for Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. The department is evaluating whether any were previously unavailable to investigators and, secondly, which might have been significant enough to influence the Navy Cross decision.

Hunter and his staff believe this footage is important because audio clearly identifies Peralta to be the one injured by the grenade -- a point that some had questioned. The dialogue also includes a Marine apparently commenting that Peralta pulled it to him to smother the blast, although the audio is less clear on this point, Kasper added.

The video also shows Peralta bleeding from his abdomen, and no apparent damage to his left leg, Kasper said. One investigator had concluded that the grenade actually exploded a few feet away from Peralta near his left leg, a finding that contradicted eyewitness accounts.

Another piece of evidence submitted to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus’ office last week is a photo that shows a fragment of the grenade fuse embedded in the central chest area of Peralta’s flak jacket, Kasper said.